Oliver Queen (New Earth)
"At my core, I wasn't a hero. I was a hunter." -Oliver Queen (New Earth) History Green Arrow is a vigilante superhero who fights crime using archery, martial arts and technology. In his secret identity he is Oliver Queen, living in Star City as a wealthy playboy and billionaire industrialist turned outspoken liberal politician. He is the leader of Team Arrow; he has also been a member of the Justice League and the Outsiders. Origins As a young child Oliver idolized his hero Robin Hood and was said to be a natural archer, frequently practicing with his bow and arrows. He was mildly traumatized the first time he accidentally killed an animal, but when his mother and father were mauled by lions in a tragic safari accident his hesitation to shoot cost them their lives. Afterwards he was raised by his uncle and eventually inherited the family fortune and business. Queen grew into a rich thrill-seeking drunken playboy with no real sense of responsibility or direction in his life. Everything changed when he fell off his boat in the middle of the ocean and washed ashore on the remote isolated Starfish Island, clutching a bow – a memento from a Robin Hood movie – which he had used to keep himself afloat, where he was completely stranded. During this time spent without food or shelter Queen developed his skills as a hunter to survive and gained mastery over his bow. Having previously taken everything in his life for granted, this experience taught him self-reliance and made him into a man. His second test of new character was the discovery of drug smugglers on the island run by the ruthless international crime lord China White. Using his new skills, he attacked and destroyed their heroin operation, then delivered them to the authorities before returning home. Realizing that he had found his destiny, he chose to use his abilities and resources as a crime-fighter. With a nickname coined by the press, he made it his mission to protect Star City. He took his cue from Batman and built his own "Arrow Cave," complete with an "Arrow Car" and allegedly a yellow submarine. He and Speedy fought with trick arrows that were designed to be non-lethal. Speedy A young man named Roy Harper idolized him. Harper was an incredible archer, having grown up on a Native American reservation. His mentor Brave Bow was dying and he needed someone to take care of him, so he wanted to become Green Arrow's sidekick. Proving his mettle by taking down several thugs faster than he could while they were both on the scene, Oliver adopted Roy as his legal ward. He would go on to fight crime taking the name Speedy. Speedy would later team up with a number of other costumed youths to form the Teen Titans, including Aqualad, Kid Flash, Robin and Wonder Girl. Justice League Green Arrow would go on to become a member of the Justice League of America, although there are multiple versions of this story. Originally the Silver Age showed him joining after he rescued the League from an evil alien named Xandor. Post-Crisis stories retconned Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman out of this story, making several other changes. Queen Enterprises secretly funded the early League, never revealing his identity and speaking to them through Simon Carr. Eventually the team voted him in as their sixth member. Infinite Crisis brought back the League's original founders and beginnings. Green Arrow is shown to have joined at the same time as Black Canary, proving their value in combat against the League of Assassins. He would go on to have many further adventures with them. Social Conscience Green Arrow began developing a personal crisis about which of his identities was more important and doing more good, the crime-fighter or the politician. Giving himself a new look, he had a more modern costume designed.14 His entire fortune and control of Queen Industries was lost to a corrupt employee named John Deleon who stole everything from him through corporate fraud. The League fights manifestations of their inner darkness and he is confronted by his character failures in combat. Part of him has only chosen to be a hero for the thrill and glory, but he realizes that he defines himself by his ability to control those instincts for the greater good. Queen begins to reevaluate his priorities, and learns to focus more on the everyday problems of regular people. Hard Traveling Heroes In the ensuing year after losing his fortune, Ollie traveled the country with Green Lantern Hal Jordan while his left-behind ward dabbled with drugs that caused the two to go their separate ways. Late one night while fighting an ambush under duress, Green Arrow's arm slipped an inch and he accidentally shot a criminal in the chest, killing him instantly. The experience was so traumatizing for him that he ripped up his costume, destroyed his equipment and decided to end his heroic career entirely. After destroying the Arrowplane, he went to live in a monastery to seek redemption and get back in touch with his roots for several months. A wise man named Master Jansen taught him the secrets of zen archery and encouraged him not to abandon his destiny, sending him home with renewed confidence in himself. Longbow Hunters Green Arrow and Black Canary relocated to Seattle, Washington where they set up a flower shop called Sherwood Florist. Having decided that years of reliance on Trick Arrows had made him weak, he returned to his basic roots as an archer and began using exclusively regular arrows again. He asked Dinah to marry him, but she believed that the strength of their relationship was in the independence they allowed each other. Although Oliver wanted children of his own, she did not want to bring children into the dangers of their world. Black Canary makes a new suit for Green Arrow and the first criminal he takes down is a serial killer known as the Seattle Slasher. There is an assassin named Shado targeting men for personal reasons that Oliver tracks down fights with and loses to. James Cameron is the police officer he chooses to work alongside and develops a relationship with. Black Canary went undercover to expose a drug ring, but was captured and interrogated. By the time he got to her she had been brutally tortured and they were planning to rape her, although he stopped them by shooting her assailant in the chest without hesitation. Shado appeared mysteriously and took down the other men in the building to assist him. They would go on to take down a conspiracy involving C.I.A. cocaine shipments to fund foreign wars, ran by men Shado had sworn vengeance against for her father Tomonaga. Dinah's injuries were extensive; she lost her "canary cry" and was subsequently found to be unable to bear children. This marked a major turning point in Ollie's life. When Ollie was injured and being cared for by Shado, she proceeded to rape him while he was unconscious, conceiving a son she would name Robert. When Ollie found out about the son, Shado made it clear that he would have nothing to do with the child. It also caused a rift between Ollie and Dinah, since she despaired at not being able to give Ollie the one thing he had always truly wanted (not withstanding Roy and Lian). After many adventures around the globe, Ollie and Dinah began to grow more distant, resulting in her breaking up with him after she caught him kissing their assistant Marianne. Cross Roads Seattle had its first super-human conflict when Nuklon fought Shrapnel. Realizing there was nothing there for him anymore, Oliver decided to take a road trip alone to find himself again. A fighter named Rival fought him and forced him to truly take ownership of his bow again. Huntress teamed up with him to solve a series of murders. Mistaken for the mercenary Deathstroke in Las Vegas, Queen became a massive target and was on the run from dozens of hitmen after him. Losing his bow, he picked up firearms and killed bad men repeatedly for his own survival. Then he teamed up with Deathstroke to take down the syndicate responsible, learning from his style and attitude. This continued and he killed several thugs while on a mission with Catwoman. Oliver started killing criminals even when he didn't need to, and murdered a child molester in cold blood. A visit to see his old friends in the Justice League reminded him of his past as one of the world's greatest heroes; now, as a street-level vigilante, he didn't feel like he belonged anymore. Depressed and angry, he had a meeting with Anarky that changed his perspective and made him realize again the political reasons he had for becoming a hero. At the beginning of Zero Hour, he chased and took down a thug then witnessed an alternate timeline where he had missed a step in the fight and been shot to death. Oliver Queen was left standing over his own corpse. Looking at his own mortality, he realized that in his position he cannot hesitate at what he does... then Batman says they need him and he answers the call. Zero Hour Cyborg Superman destroyed Coast City, hometown of Green Lantern, and killed thousands of its citizens. This drove Hal Jordan temporarily insane and he dismantled the Green Lantern Corps, murdered the Guardians and absorbed the cosmic energy inside the Central Power Battery. At the time, he had been possessed by the evil Parallax entity. Seeing imperfections in the universe, Parallax decided to rebuild it in his own image... but first he had to destroy all of existence through the entire timestream, everything there ever was or would be. In the last pocket of reality at Vanishing Point before everything was consumed by entropy, Waverider of the Linear Men gathered the only heroes who hadn't been erased. Ollie refused to believe that Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), his oldest and closest friend, had indeed become the murderous Parallax. Ollie initially refused to fight against Hal, until the full depth of the former Green Lantern's madness became all too clear. In the final battle, Ollie shot Hal in the chest, being the crucial attack that stopped Parallax and saved the universe. Ollie was distraught, however, at the thought of having killed one of his best friends. Connor Hawke Distraught with grief at having killed his best friend, Oliver returned to the ashram he had visited after his last murder. Master Jansen counseled him again in finding inner peace after he swears off super-heroics. The National Security Agency had determined that they must eliminate him after the things he had seen in their employ, and assassins are sent after him. A young archer and martial artist named Connor Hawke who idolizes him helps fight them off, and the two leave together in search of answers about who set him up. Connor has his own costume and becomes the second Green Arrow, which Oliver is supportive of. They quickly find themselves entangled in a government conspiracy and Eddie Fyers is enlisted to help solve their problems. Hal Jordan reappears again at one point still alive, and wishes to rekindle their friendship although he is still clearly insane and obsessed with his cosmic energies. Before parting he accidentally lets Oliver know that Connor is actually his son by an old girlfriend named Moonday Hawke. Furious that the young man didn't tell him about their relation, Oliver has an argument with Connor and Eddie then leaves to be on his own again. Death The NSA was under new management and they offered Oliver a job as an agent. They needed him to go undercover and infiltrate the Eden Corps, an extremist eco-terrorist organization. On his first mission with them he was forced to fight his closest friends and allies; gaining their confidence he also started a romantic relationship with their leader Hyrax. He fought off Connor, Eddie Fyers, Arsenal and even the Force of July. Hyrax had a bomb named the Mutajek 9-9 and planned to destroy Metropolis with it. On the plane ride there was a massive fire fight with another deep-cover agent, and most of the terrorists were killed. Green Arrow's arm was inside the detonation chamber for the bomb, which would activate if he released his hand. Superman tried to help but had no way of saving him other than tearing off his arm. Rather than allow himself to be crippled Queen let the plane explode, sacrificing himself to save thousands of people. Having been completely vaporized in the blast, there was no body. A small funeral gathering of his closest friends was held in Warriors. There was nothing to bury, so his son fired an arrow into the air and marked its landing as his final resting place, as in the legend of Robin Hood. Connor Hawke then decided to continue on his legacy. Resurrection This wasn't Oliver's end, however, as Hal Jordan (during his time as Parallax) returned to save the earth during the Final Night and used his godlike powers to bring his old friend back from the dead. Unfortunately, the reanimated hero was an empty vessel with no soul, whose memories were replicated from his earlier days when he had a stronger liberal conscience. Ollie's more experienced soul remained in a Heaven-like place for a time, until it was reunited with his body in order to defeat an evil warlock named Stanley Dover. Now, the original Green Arrow was back in action with a rare second chance at life to make up for previous mistakes with his loved ones, all while renewing his vows to be a defender of the downtrodden. With the death of Stanley Dover, Ollie inherited Dover's estate. He renovated it, and established it as the Star City Youth Center. During this time, Ollie rescued fifteen-year-old Mia Dearden from a life of drugs and prostitution. He took her into his confidence, and into his home. Mia developed a crush on Oliver, and began emulating his actions. She even began training with a bow and arrow. Eventually, her extensive training paid off, and she became the new Speedy. Identity Crisis The superhero community was thrown into chaos when Elongated Man's wife Sue Dibny was murdered. Green Arrow had been part of a conspiracy that covered up a mind-wipe performed by Zatanna on Doctor Light, altering his personality after he had raped Sue on the Justice League Satellite many years before. They hunted Light down and were forced to fight unprepared against Deathstroke as his bodyguard, who decimated them until Oliver leaped onto his back and stabbed an arrow into his empty eye socket. His memory triggered again, Light was able to escape. Having gotten into many compromising situations over the years, his was not the only memory erased, but altering his personality was the furthest they ever went. This is justified on the grounds that they did what needed to be done, despite what the opinions of others would've been. The shocking revelation is that Batman discovered what they were doing and tried to stop them, forcing the group to wipe his mind as well. Deathstroke blew up his house as revenge for their earlier fight. Realizing that someone has discovered his secret identity, Oliver puts his family on lock-down and relocates to an underground bunker before teaming up with Black Lightning to take on Doctor Light again. Infinite Crisis During the Infinite Crisis, Ollie was engaging in a duel with Merlyn when Doctor Light triggered massive explosions. Critically injured by the attack, Ollie (along with Connor and Mia) relocated to the Marshall Islands where they remained in convalescence for several months. Once healed from his injuries, Oliver spent a fortune to hire the world’s foremost martial arts masters to come to the island. Over the course of many weeks, Ollie trained under the masters' tutelage until he was in peak physical condition. He further hired an assassin named Natas (the man who trained Deathstroke) to mentor him in the killing arts – a decision met with great enmity by his son, Connor. During this period, Ollie met a political campaign advisor named Frederick Tuckman. As Tuckman detailed the state of affairs in Star City, Ollie decided to take his fight in an entirely new direction. One Year Later One Year Later, Oliver Queen is the newly elected mayor of Star City, continuing his fight on the streets and through the system. He also has a new costume, which appears to be a combination of the classic Neal Adams costume and the Mike Grell Longbow Hunters costume. At the onset, it seems Mayor Queen is most interested in the "shock value" of his office, although his controversial decisions and statements are actually meant to draw attention to and benefit the devastated Star City. He uses an open interpretation of the town charter to perform same-sex marriages in Star City as a both a political statement and a way to boost the local tourist economy. He also exercises the power of his office to do things such as blackmail corrupt businessmen, or have the Star City SWAT unit back up his actions as Green Arrow while publicly condemning his alter ego. (He also used his connections to enable his longtime friend and former lover Black Canary to bring a young Vietnamese girl, Sin, into the country to be raised by Canary.) During the year long hiatus, Queen also amassed a quite large personal fortune by manipulating stocks of companies he sees as unscrupulous. While never stated outright, it appears Oliver Queen is now worth billions. The former gangster Brick now fights crime in Star City and allies himself with Green Arrow, although he evidently still traffics in drugs and prostitution. Before long however, Ollie faced problems from opponents who wore business suits as well as costumes. Deathstroke the Terminator, having been incarcerated at Alcatraz Island after a fight with Green Arrow, conspired with fellow inmate Constantine Drakon and Star City police commissioner Brian Nudocerdo to ruin Ollie politically. Following the battle with Deathstroke and his subsequent imprisonment, Green Arrow began a battle with Red Hood (Jason Todd) that lead him to ally himself with Batman. Brick's friendship with Queen was short-lived as well, as it appeared that he had sided with Todd. The Green Arrow defeated Jason in a sword fight, however Jason escaped and kidnapped Speedy. Brian Nudocerdo publicly revealed that Queen had been secretly financing the Outsiders – a team whose actions at the time were ethically questionable and tantamount to terrorism. In light of these facts, Nudocerdo demanded a recall election and cast his hat into the ring as Ollie's mayoral replacement. Queen had little defense against the charges. It was true that he had been financing the Outsiders, but his motives were so that the group would be financially stable enough to enable his former protégé, Roy Harper, to leave the team and join the Justice League. In a private conversation with Hal Jordan, Oliver admitted that he missed the League "every damn day", but that he understood that Roy needed to be a member more than he did. In the midst of political scandal, Oliver Queen reignited his love affair with longtime paramour, Dinah Laurel Lance. After successfully fending off an attack by Deathstroke and Constantine Drakon, Ollie asked Dinah to marry him, but she was not prepared to give him an immediate answer. Shortly thereafter, Ollie and Speedy helped Black Canary when Merlyn abducted Canary's "daughter" Sin. To save Sin's life, Ollie was forced to fake the young girl's death, keeping the knowledge of the plan between himself and Mia, even at the risk of losing Dinah forever. After Sin was placed into safekeeping, Ollie told Dinah what he had done. Recognizing that he was willing to sacrifice his own happiness to save a life, Dinah finally agreed to marry him. After a great deal of compromise and strife, Ollie and Dinah agreed to get married inside the Secret Sanctuary, the original cave headquarters of the Justice League of America. Wedding guests included nearly everyone within the super-hero community who were asked to attend the ceremony in-costume. The wedding was interrupted by a phalanx of super-villains who attempted to take out as many heroes as possible in one fell swoop. Nearly all of the villains were apprehended except for Deathstroke who managed to escape. Despite the interruption, the ceremony concluded and Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance were married. Final Crisis Final Crisis starts when the prophet Libra and his Secret Society of Super-Villains execute Martian Manhunter, and Oliver goes on television to announce that whoever is responsible will suffer. Green Lantern has a conversation with him about how they wouldn't lose sleep torturing the bastards responsible. He is drafted into the new All-Star Squadron along with many other heroes to fight the increasing threat. Darkseid begins spreading his influence on Earth and enslaving humanity's minds using the Anti-Life Equation. Green Arrow is one of the last surviving heroes resisting the forces of evil and holding the Hall of Justice. As their defenses are breached he sends everyone else including Black Canary through the teleporters and makes a valiant last stand. He is captured by the mind-controlled Black Lightning and subjected to the equation, turning him into one of the Justifiers. His wife is also captured and he tries to turn her as well, but she rips the helmet off his head and helps him resist again. They've bought enough time for the Ray to mask the world with the life equation and fight off evil's influences and barely survived the conflict. Superman destroys the last of Darkseid's power. Cry For Justice Green Lantern decided it was time for an era of change in the Justice League, believing they had lost sight of their goals and the true meaning of justice. He set out to form his own League alongside Green Arrow as his partner, taking a less reactionary and more aggressive stance on crime-fighting. They spent weeks together hunting and tracking down super-villains. The team they assembled included the Atom, Captain Marvel, Congorilla, Starman and Supergirl. Prometheus, one of the world's most dangerous villains with a violent hatred for everything heroic, is revealed to be orchestrating a world-wide conspiracy with the intention of causing as much pain for the forces of goodness as he possibly can. There is an argument about how far they're willing to go to protect innocent lives, and whether or not the ends justify the means while they're torturing villains for information. Black Canary was mad at Oliver when they returned to ask the rest of the League for help, because he had ignored his responsibilities and turned his back on her. Prometheus gained access to the Justice League Watchtower and severed Roy Harper's right arm. Prometheus fights the entire League and defeats most of them until he is blindsided by Donna Troy, who beats him within an inch of his life. In the interrogation he explains that he is going to destroy each of the heroes' cities, and his plans are already in motion... starting with Green Arrow's. A massive bomb is detonated and most of Star City is completely annihilated, killing thousands in the process. Speedy goes after the trigger-man, Electrocutioner, and Lian Harper is shown to be one of the many who died in the blast. Prometheus promises to detonate bombs in every other major civic area unless they release him, and reluctantly they are forced to when Oliver reminds them it's the only way to save millions of people. Green Arrow then hunts Prometheus down to his lair and shoots him right between the eyes with an arrow, murdering him in cold blood. Blackest Night Nekron attacks the universe using his Black Lantern Corps, an army of resurrected zombie heroes turned evil wielding power rings. Coast City is ground zero for his arrival on Earth, and many heroes are called in to wage war against the death constructs. Every person who's been brought back from the dead is zombified including Green Arrow, Animal Man, Donna Troy, Ice, Kid Flash, Superboy, Superman and Wonder Woman. Possessed by the death entity, he is forced to watch from inside his body as it attacks Black Canary, Connor Hawke and Speedy. He fights his loved ones and nearly kills them, taunting repeatedly about their deepest fears and insecurities, provoking an emotional response to feed upon. Determined not to sit back while his family is murdered, Oliver has enough willpower to make himself miss a kill shot and fires instead at a liquid nitrogen tank. Connor then grabs a hose from it and uses it to freeze him, stopping the Black Lantern in its tracks. Hal Jordan brings everyone back to life when he taps into the power of the Entity and brings them into the White Lantern Corps, then defeats Nekron. Fall Of Green Arrow Following his murder of Prometheus, Green Arrow sets out to kill the Electrocutioner. Green Lantern and the Flash are the first to discover the corpse he left behind, and attempt to take him in. Black Canary tries to get him to listen to reason, but he pushes her aside. Now with his own community after him, he continues his personal vendetta for revenge. Connor Hawke gets into a heated argument with him about the troubles in their past with Oliver's fatherhood and how much of a bastard he's been, not sure if he can ever forgive him again. Mia Dearden is the only one of his allies in agreement with him, and she captures the Electrocutioner with the intention of murdering him in cold blood. Realizing that he can't drag a child into this, Green Arrow begins to regret his crimes and turns himself in. Finally he's arrested by Brian Nudocerdo and publicly unmasked, revealing to the world that he's former Mayor Oliver Queen. Black Canary visits him in prison and returns her wedding ring, telling him their marriage is over. On trial, the jury finds him not guilty, but the judge overrules this and sentences him to a complete exile from Star City Brightest Day Deadman uses his new power ring's connection to life energy and creates a massive forest in the ruins of Star City. Green Arrow now lives in this forest, helping his city wherever he can while staying underneath the radar. His company is bought out by a defense contractor named Isabel Rochev with a connection to his father, who supplies Mayor Altman with a specially trained police force ordered to attack him on sight. Fighting the corruption of a society that has turned its backs on the refugees, ignoring the tremendous human suffering, he robs from the rich and gives to the poor. Brian Nudocerdo is murdered by a mysterious assassin. Flashpoint Oliver Queen head of Green Arrow Industries, a major military contracting company. He leads an ex-military band of Green Arrows. Oliver Queen is an inventive genius, but he steals advanced gadgets from super-villains for military use. In one day, Oliver discovers his Green Arrows were killed by a female raider. Taking his weapons and gadgets to hunt down the woman in battle, Oliver is shocked when the woman reveals to him that she is a daughter of Vixen making them targets for the super-villains looking to regain their weapons. Shocked by her revelation, Oliver Queen had only been stalling before his daughter is killed by his reserve teams he earlier called. DCnU After the time-stream was changed, Oliver Queen was based in Seattle, and was using a subsidiary of Queen Industries called Q-Core as a front for his operations as Green Arrow. In addition to masking the research and development of his trick arrows, Q-Core had developed several very successful products like the Q-pad and Q-phone, making Oliver a billionaire mogul. With the help of a hacker named Naomi and an engineer named Jax, Oliver worked covertly as Green Arrow while dodging his responsibilities to Queen Industries. Meanwhile, the police considered the hero a dangerous vigilante, requiring him to keep a somewhat low profile. Personality Oliver Queen has a very dynamic personality. His passion and intensity make him strong, although he has always had difficulty finding direction in life. Born into wealth, he didn't need to work for most of what he had and was raised with very little responsibility. His experience on Starfish Island taught him self-reliance and showed him there was more to existence, giving him an outlet. In the beginning of his career he has been portrayed as a thrill-seeker, fighting crime not for moral reasons but the sense of adventure. It wasn't until he lost his fortune that he developed his strong social conscience, and outspoken left-wing political viewpoints. This character development has made him much less egotistical in the way he deals with problems. Powers and Abilities Powers Oliver Queen's powers, if any, remain unknown. It has been rumored that Green Arrow may in fact be a metahuman. The Department of Extranormal Operations has a classified dossier on Queen, wherein they indicate such a possibility, but as of yet, this information has not been confirmed nor denied. Abilities *Aviation: He used to own and fly his own airplane called the Arrowplane. He still has some skill in flying different types of planes. *Cooking: Green Arrow's Chili is one of the hottest foods on the planet. *Master Archer: Oliver Queen is perhaps the finest archer ever known. He claims to be able to shoot 29 arrows per minute (he stated this himself, in the Sound of Violence story arc, when he corrected Black Canary for saying 26). He has a wide-variety of trick arrows, ranging from bola arrows to time-bomb arrows to his infamous boxing-glove arrow. In recent years he has used these arrows sparingly, preferring the time-tested simple arrow. Green Arrow has shown the ability to shoot an arrow down the barrel of a gun, pierce a drop of water as it leaves a tap, and shoot almost any part of the human body; although he aims only to wound and not kill when he shoots. He once shot two arrows down two different gun barrels while upside down, in mid-flip while somersaulting off a building. *Master Martial Artist: He is proficient in several forms of hand-to-hand combat including Judo, Kickboxing and Karate. Proclaimed as a martial arts master, he has shown the ability to take on seven people at once. He spent several months dedicated to making himself a better fighter and trained with many of the world's finest martial arts teachers and even went through training from Natas, the same person who trained Deathstroke. *Master Swordsman: Ollie is also very proficient with a sword, though it is not his preferred weapon of choice. He has beaten Jason Todd in a sword-fight and has deflected an incoming arrow with the sword he carries. *Acrobatics: He has displayed on many occasions that he is an expert in acrobatics, and often uses this skill while evading enemy fire. *Politics: Ollie ran for office and became the mayor of Star City for a significant amount of time. He has since resigned from being the mayor and has continued to lean on political issues from time to time. Paraphernalia Weapons *Custom Bow *Katana *Quiver *Trick Arrows